Tribute archive: section 4

Bliss was my first beautiful yellow lab whose life was cut way too short at five years old.  It was ten years later when my husband and I passed a sign along the road that noted “Yellow Lab Puppies for Sale”. Without a second thought, he turned around and we headed back to see the puppies. None of the puppies were spoken for yet so we had first pick and it was our desire to choose a female. When we saw the puppies the littlest female there was very hyper and playfully energetic, so I leaned toward a quiet laidback puppy for which we were told was a female. We gave them our down payment and were given a date to pick ‘her’ up. We later received a call at which time we were told the puppy we choose was a male and that all the other puppies were now spoken for.  However, at that point, they were waiting on a decision from someone else as to whether it was definite they were going to take the little energetic female we had previously strayed from.  Feeling highly disappointed, I did not give up hope on getting one of the puppies.  We were thankfully blessed with being able to adopt into our family that feisty little female puppy. It took no time at all for her to steal my heart.  Maybe, just maybe, the reason this little puppy was so ecstatically happy was because she was Bliss’s soul coming back to me or perhaps Bliss sent her to me and this puppy was happy and excited we found her.  The puppies were born on November 11th, of 2003, so I was able to pick her up on my birthday, December 21st. I was then the one who was ecstatic, as what an amazingly awesome birthday gift.  A good friend who also just got a yellow lab puppy from a different litter suggested we name them after country music singers.  She named her puppy Toby Keith.  I chose Faith Hill.  However, I changed her name to “Bliss’s Blessing of Faith” in honor of my first yellow lab Bliss.  Faith never lost that playful energy she had over the years exuberantly running after her ball and catching frisbee, for which she was a champion. She loved camping, going for walks and running around the yard with her buddy Chance, who was a stray we adopted seven years earlier.  When Chance passed Trey joined the family as a puppy and grew highly fond of Faith. He loved to latch onto Faith’s tail as they ran around the yard. Trey was with her the day she transitioned to cross over the rainbow bridge.  Faith would always pick one of her stuffed toys to bring upstairs when it was bedtime.  After Faith’s soul crossed, I positioned all her stuffed toys around her bed downstairs.  Trey would then take one toy a day, during the time-period we were not home, upstairs to our bedroom until eventually they were all upstairs, including a four-foot long stuffed snake.  I moved her bed upstairs and again positioned all her toys on her bed where they remain to this day. It will be an awesome day when we are reunited with Bliss, her pups Bear and Sable, Chance, Faith and our kitties Midnight and Whiskers.  I pray Faith and all our other beloved pets are around us in spirit as they will always be in our hearts.